Sunday, May 24, 2009

Memorial Day 2009

Friday Greetings from the cottage on Memorial Weekend. Today we enjoyed 85 degree sun with a light breeze across the lake. The loud sounds are the hums of lawn mowers and boat engines. Birds are swooping from tree to tree; squirrels scamper across the road and up the tree. Neighbors stroll by. Lemonade. Ice Cream. And then the sunset. Whew! What a day.

Over the years our kids have brought friends up for this weekend. How many times did we spend it hunkered down in the house, rain and wind and the temperature in the miserable 50s? One year, Allyson and three girlfriends donned their swimsuits and had us photograph them jumping from the pier. It looked like your basic summer fun shot. In reality, as soon as they hit the water, their collective shrieks sent ripples across the lake. They jumped right out, ran to the cottage and dove into a hot shower.

We had our doctor's appointment Friday. As it was the third time, we had settled into a routine. Blood work on Monday and then the Doctor tells us things look good. So this week, we expected the same, maybe better. In the last week, Mike has decreased his pain medication and his appetite picked up. I made several midnight toast runs to the kitchen and during the day, between meals, he downed milkshakes and cookies and other goodies. (And, by the way, THANKS for unexpected goodies. They just keep showing up.)

So, we arrived for that appointment, full of optimism and a bet as to how much weight he had gained back. A new nurse came out and said, “Mr. Bolinger, we need some blood work.”

“But I already had some on Monday.”

“Well, we need to check it again.”

CRASH. We did not discuss this but we’ve melded into a single-thinking entity. “Why are they checking again? Did the doctor not like something? Did she see something (something bad) and wants to confirm it? This can’t be good. Oh no oh no oh no. Not yet.”

We walked back to the blood room. The nurse did her little cross check with name/birthday. Mike asked her again, “Why are they rechecking?”

“I don’t know.”

Had she known, had the report right in front of her said, in big letters, THIS IS WHY WE’RE DOING THIS, she would have still answered the same. By the way, as she was across the room, I craned my neck to see if there WAS anything written in words I could understand.

Nah.

So, now unsettled, we walked into the appointment room. There the nurse did HER things..the vitals, the interview…and Mike asked HER, “Why did you need more blood?” She looked puzzled. Then she called someone and then said, “Whoops. Our regular nurse is on vacation and our fill-in did not check her records.”

So….all that turmoil for nothing.

The Doctor breezed in and did HER thing. She answered each and every questions. She checked out something sticking out of Mike’s abdomen….turns out there’s a suture that is working its way out. No, we should NOT be pulling at it. (I nod at the hub)

The Doctor, once again, says that right now, Mike’s blood work looks good. There are no “tumor markers” and we should go have a great weekend.